Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation Blog

Expanding Opportunity through Active Volunteering

While the economy continues to show signs of improvement, there are still many workers who are facing challenges in connecting to new careers. The Department of Labor has encouraged dislocated workers to pursue education and training to improve their skills and better position them to compete for employment opportunities.  Many workers have taken advantage of these opportunities, but it is also important to lay a path forward for those workers who have not enrolled in training and seek other options to build their skills and increase their chances to find employment.

Today, the Department has issued guidance—in the form of an Unemployment Insurance Program Letter (UIPL)—recognizing that active volunteering can help expand opportunity for unemployed individuals by enabling them to develop and maintain skills, expand their professional networks, and enhance their resumes while helping in their community.  Activities such as coordinating an after-school program, volunteering at a homeless shelter, or assisting individuals in filing Earned Income Tax Credit claims all create immediate benefit for individuals in need and underserved communities.  Such activities also help the participants to sharpen the soft skills that many employers demand.

We also know that, as more businesses stress the importance of corporate citizenship and shared value, many more are encouraging their workers to volunteer.   In many ways, this is not a new development.  A wide range of companies such as AT&T and IBM have long standing programs that encourage employees to volunteer.  As this trend continues to spread, knowing that a job seeker is already committed to the community may be another positive attribute from the employer’s perspective when assessing potential candidates.

The Benefits of Civic Engagement for Tomorrow's Leaders

Ed. note: The Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation is celebrating National Volunteer Week April 15^th – 21^st to recognize individuals who serve their communities. Christopher Gergen, the Chief Executive Officer of Forward Ventures and a fellow with Fuqua’s Center for the Advancement of Social Entrepreneurship at Duke University, expresses the benefits of civic engagement for tomorrow’s leaders in a guest blog post below.

What do tomorrow’s leaders need to help serve our communities? It might be helpful to parse this into two questions. First, what leadership traits do we look for? Second, how can we actively engage tomorrow’s leaders as problem solvers in our community?

According to the Center for Creative Leadership, tomorrow’s leaders will need to have: strong self-awareness; an ability to collaborate across sectors with deep empathy for the communities they serve; critical thinking skills to develop innovative solutions to complex challenges; and the courage to take action even in the face of stark adversity, including the crushing pressure of the status quo. This “growth mindset” requires rolling up one’s sleeves, swallowing a dose of humility, and getting immersed in reality – and I’m not talking about TV.

So how do we best equip emerging leaders to understand and face today’s tough challenges ranging from persistent economic inequities to environmental degradation to significant educational achievement gaps? One critical strategy: volunteerism.